Moving Can Be _______. (Adjective) #MadLib #Organizing
We moved. It took us 2 weeks to move just under 200 miles, about a 2 hour drive, back to where we started 2 years ago. That’s a lot of twos.
As I am one who is frugal and likes to “regulate” and control situations (ha!), we made it all happen ourselves instead of hiring a moving company to do it for us. I’ve moved now three times in two years. I am, and always have been, awesome at it.
I don’t always follow the “perfect moving plan” rules because well, life and business just get in the way. Plus I’m frugal and I like to control everything (again – ha! ha!).
Here are my top 3 “ideal world moving plan” rules, my most recent experience with them and my take on the curse and blessing of them. You know, because I don’t just play a professional organizer/workflow expert on TV.
1) Purge stuff before you move. No sense in schlepping crap you don’t ever use.
Totally attempted to purge. Held two garage sales. No one came. Where we lived, there were no Salvation Army pick-ups, no Goodwills to drop off at. No one there reads Craigslist because most people still use the yellow pages, not computers. Some of the stuff I finally decided to sell had immense emotional value to me. It was tough enough to decide to put it up for sale and not cry too much. Once I somewhat released the emotional connection (Grandma’s spirit is not living in the headboard and footboard) I felt even more disappointed no one showed up.
When I only had about 5 customers each garage sale, I saw it as a sign from God and decided to hang onto most stuff until I moved to our current location. Then, I could give these things to a home/charity/person who would value them.
Curse: Having to shlep and pack crap I didn’t use – that’s more physical space, money for storage, and physical labor.
Blessing: When I decided to take it with me, I found people who needed these items, wanted these items, and paid me for them.
2) Have a list: Plan out your transition to the new location and tell people about it.
I am the Princess of Lists. My mom is the Queen of Lists. A written list means everything gets done. There is immense satisfaction in crossing off items on a list. I am also a planner in my head (see my comment about regulating and control above). I have an order in which things happen in my head and a reason for that order of activity.
I had plenty of lists. I wrote down action items for people who came to help on the packing side. I let go and trusted people would get done the actions and the order in my head would work out.
Curse: When you don’t write down lists, you’re the only one who knows what to do, what needs to be done, and then you fall into a puddle crying/start yelling at people like a madman because you’re the ONLY ONE doing it ALL. That sucks.
Blessing: I did well on this one. Physically moving yourself is a lot of stress and tires you out. Only once did I wish I had a magic wand to make it all happen. Fortunately, I had people who knew how to read my lists so the wand was unnecessary.
3) Critically look at your stuff when you arrive and unpack. Make a Donate Box while you unpack.
Seriously. If it’s got dust on it, do you still need it? This is especially important in the business realm. My business workflow has changed considerably in the last 2 years. With technology and the new direction of my business, I don’t really need all of the filing cabinets, file trays, binders, books and pieces of paper I used in my systems 3, 5, 7 years ago.
In the home area, well, I still have a lot of stuff. We took a 3 bedroom house with a 2 car garage and got it into a 2 bedroom apartment and a 5×10 storage unit.
The best thing I did was write out a question:
Who am I today? Is this serving the “me” I am today?
This question keeps me present in the present, and takes me out of memories of “what used to be”.
I’ve got a donate/sell box on the go and have posted on Craigslist. A friend offered her house up for a garage sale for some items too. It’s a work in progress.
Curse: Stuff is filled with emotion. Even the paperwork of things I created my first few years in business, though I know I’ll never use those materials again, are reminders of my bad-ass-ness. My emotional attachment to these, like an anchor, limits my progress and journey in life and business for today and now. It’s hard to walk the talk where emotion is concerned.
Blessing: Moving and fitting things in to new smaller space means I have to really evaluate what is working for me, what’s not, and how I choose to define my life. It’s also testing my faith that when I release something, if there is a need in the future, I can find the item again when I need it.
There you go: 1, 2, 3. From a professional who is walking the talk.
Jessica D. Chapman is the founder of Room to Breathe™ Professional Organizing and author of The Entrepreneurial Itch Workbook. Connect with Jessica on Twitter @Room2BreatheOrg or on facebook.com/RoomToBreatheOrganizing
